Alternate Formats

Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks II

Fact Sheet

ACTION II is a model of field-based research designed to promote innovation in health care delivery by accelerating the diffusion of research into practice. The ACTION II network includes 17 large partnerships and more than 350 collaborating organizations that provide health care to an estimated 50 percent of the U.S. population. ACTION II's goals, partners, and research opportunities are summarized in this fact sheet.

ACTION II is a model of field-based research designed to promote innovation in health care delivery by accelerating the diffusion of research into practice. The ACTION II network includes 17 large partnerships and more than 350 collaborating organizations that provide health care to an estimated 50 percent of the U.S. population.

ACTION II's goals, partners, and research opportunities are summarized in this fact sheet.

Select for summaries of projects funded under ACTION II in 2013, 2012, 2011, and ACTION in 2010 and 2009.

Mission

ACTION II promotes and accelerates the development, implementation, dissemination, and sustainability of innovations in health care delivery to increase understanding of how to incorporate evidence-based improvements into routine practice to improve quality of care.

Objectives

ACTION II Partnerships conduct practice-based implementation research focused on achieving one or more of the following four objectives:

To test or expand the investigation of innovations that are new to the health care field (proofs of concept).

To implement, in additional settings, interventions or improvement approaches that have been demonstrated to work in a limited type or number of settings.

To spread, or take to scale, one or more proven innovations or delivery system improvements.

To evaluate and support sustainability.

Program Characteristics

Like its predecessor, ACTION (http://www.ahrq.gov/research/action.htm), ACTION II is a 5-year task order contract model of practice-based implementation research. Its 17 Awardees and their Partnerships include a total of over 350 collaborating organizations. Collectively, the Partnerships, which span all States, provide access and care to an estimated 50 percent of the U.S. population, representing a broad geographic, demographic, and payer mix for care recipients. The 17 Partnerships are composed of diverse organizations involved in health care delivery, including: inpatient, ambulatory, and long-term care health care providers (including integrated delivery systems and Federally Qualified Health Centers/safety nets); health plans; health services research organizations/networks; consumer and patient safety groups; professional or trade associations/organizations; and quality improvement organizations.

Each Partnership includes operational systems that house large, robust health care databases, recognized clinical and research expertise, and the authority to implement health care innovations. A particular focus of ACTION II task orders will be increasing understanding not only of whether a particular innovation "works," but how and why it does or does not work. ACTION II research is intended to be:

Practice-Based: ACTION II supports field-based research to explore a broad mix of practical, applied topics that are responsive to diverse user needs and operational interests. By testing innovations directly in the settings in which they are intended to be used, ACTION II increases the likelihood of their eventual successful uptake.

Implementation-Oriented: ACTION II research is designed to increase knowledge about the process of implementing innovations and the contextual factors influencing implementation. It seeks to enhance understanding of how and why specific strategies do or do not work.

Rapid Cycle: As requirements are identified, task order proposals are solicited from the 17 Awardees. Task orders are awarded within approximately 4 months of release of each request for task order proposals. Task orders are generally completed within 18–30 months of the award date, depending on their size and scope.

Potentially Worthy of Spread: ACTION II emphasizes projects that are broadly responsive to user needs and operational interests and which are generally intended to be applicable across multiple settings.

Potential Topics of Interest

Patient safety.

Health information technology.

Structure and organization of care delivery.

Coordination of care.

Payment.

Comparative effectiveness of systems design and change strategies.

Prevention and care management.

Long-Term care.

Health literacy.

Health disparities.

Resources

AHRQ is interested in hearing from organizations that may wish to sponsor, or suggest sponsors for, one or more projects. Past funders have included the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health/Office of the Secretary, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

AHRQ anticipates that sources and amounts for ACTION II funding may be similar to those of ACTION. Between 2006 and 2010, AHRQ awarded approximately $74 million in funds to almost 100 projects conducted by 15 Partnerships.

Share Your Thoughts...

AHRQ is interested in hearing your thoughts about practice-based implementation research questions that might be well suited to exploration through ACTION II. For information about how to share your thoughts, please contact: